The Angola Horror

Cowinner, Herbert H. Lehman Award (New York Academy of History at Columbia University)

On December 18, 1867, the Buffalo and Erie Railroad's eastbound New York Express derailed as it approached the high truss bridge over Big Sister Creek, just east of the small settlement of Angola, New York, on the shores of Lake Erie. The last two cars of the express train were pitched completely off the tracks and plummeted into the creek bed below. When they struck bottom, one of the wrecked cars was immediately engulfed in flames as the heating stoves in the coach spilled out coals and ignited its wooden timbers. The other car was badly smashed. About fifty people died at the bottom of the gorge or shortly thereafter, and dozens more were injured. Rescuers from the small rural community responded with haste, but there was almost nothing they could do but listen to the cries of the dying—and carry away the dead and injured thrown clear of the fiery wreck. The next day and in the weeks that followed, newspapers across the country carried news of the "Angola Horror," one of the deadliest railway accidents to that point in U.S. history.

In a dramatic historical narrative, Charity Vogel tells the gripping, true-to-life story of the wreck and the characters involved in the tragic accident. Her tale weaves together the stories of the people—some unknown; others soon to be famous—caught up in the disaster, the facts of the New York Express’s fateful run, the fiery scenes in the creek ravine, and the subsequent legal, legislative, and journalistic search for answers to the question: what had happened at Angola, and why? The Angola Horror is a classic story of disaster and its aftermath, in which events coincide to produce horrific consequences and people are forced to respond to experiences that test the limits of their endurance. Vogel sets the Angola Horror against a broader context of the developing technology of railroads, the culture of the nation’s print media, the public policy legislation of the post–Civil War era, and, finally, the culture of death and mourning in the Victorian period. The Angola Horror sheds light on the psyche of the American nation. The fatal wreck of an express train nine years later, during a similar bridge crossing in Ashtabula, Ohio, serves as a chilling coda to the story.

"Vogel's work is gracefully written, and the notes and bibliography reveal a staggering amount of research into contemporary newspapers and other primary sources. This is social history; the author imaginatively reconstructs the lives and experiences of those traveling on the Express that day, as well as the men and women of Angola, New York, who rose to the occasion when disaster struck. . . . The overall result . . . is a vivid depiction of antebellum life and travel."—March Aldrich, Railroad History

The Angola Horror

"Surprise is hard to achieve when a historian sets out to tell a story with an outcome long established, but The Angola Horror reads like a classic thriller. . . Vogel makes good use of suspense to build tension, mood and character reconstruction to play on reader emotions, and a heightened expectation of terror to come. . . Readers of The Angola Horror will find a compelling human drama that should be studied and enjoyed by anyone looking to understand this moment in New York history."—Larry Grant, The Citadel, New York History (2014)

The Angola Horror

"In this impressively researched book, Charity Vogel uncovers the once-lost story of the horrific accident. She provides a gripping narrative of the events leading up to the wreck, the crash itself, and its aftermath. She also firmly situates the episode in the context of nineteenth-century American railroad history, the development of modern journalism, and post-Civil War concers about death, burial, and remembrance.

"Vogel has conducted extensive research to re-create the tragedy, using or visiting over thirty archives, consulting sixty-five different period newspapers and magazines, and incorporating dozens of other primary sources. She deftly weaves those numerous sources into a detailed account of the accident, describing the passengers on the train and their backgrounds, explaining how the derailment occurred, and recounting the gruesome aftermath. The narrative is compelling, creating an air of suspense even though the outcome is already known, but Vogel's telling never reaches too far. Throughout the text, she uses language carefully to indicate where she is speculating."—Journal of American History

The Angola Horror

"On December 18, 1867, the New York Express train from Cleveland to Buffalo derailed in frigid temperatures at Angola, NY, resulting in horrific injuries and heavy loss of life. Charity Vogel has written an exhaustive history of the accident. . . . Her narrative tracing the train's route builds suspense with every mile and station until the train meets its doom. . . . Verdict: This is history writing at its best, as Vogel immerses her readers in the event's 1867 context. Highly recommended."—Library Journal (1 July 2013) – STARRED REVIEW

The Angola Horror

"The Angola Horror is an astonishing, indeed terrifying, story told with insight, compassion, and suspense. Charity Vogel achieves the near impossible, capturing the individuality of those caught up in the tragedy while simultaneously creating an expansive, compelling portrait of post–Civil War America."—Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance

The Angola Horror

"It was truly difficult to put The Angola Horror down. Both general and academic readers will find the individual stories of passengers, workers, and rescuers engaging. There is much to admire in the detective work involved in piecing together these narratives. The overall account of the journey leading up to the crash, the crash, and the rescue is well told."—Amy Richter, Clark University, author of Home on the Rails: Women, the Railroad, and the Rise of Public Domesticity

The Angola Horror

"The Angola Horror is a wonderfully and imaginatively researched and superbly written book. This horrific railroad accident was a dramatic event, and Charity Vogel captures the feel of mid-nineteenth-century train travel. She places events in a larger cultural and historical context, as when she ties the tragedy to how Victorian Americans viewed death and dying."—H. Roger Grant, Kathryn and Calhoun Lemon Professor of History, Clemson University, author of Railroads and the American People